Ararat Rural City Council Mayor Glenda McLean said the upgrades were designed to increase the efficiency of the meters and result in less downtime due to errors.

“The advantage of the new system is that any faults will be communicated via email in real-time, reducing the period the meter will be out of service to the minimum possible,” she said.

“You would struggle to find a city across Australia that doesn’t have parking meters around its central business district.

“They are essential for managing vehicle parking and encouraging turnover, which is good for shoppers and good for businesses.”

Ararat Rural City councillors were told in September that parking receipts in the eight weeks since July were at their lowest level since 2010-11 and the reliability of the meters had been an ongoing issue.

Cr McLean said Ararat Rural City was also offering the community an ‘EasyPark’ option for the upgraded parking meters.

“Using the EasyPark App on your smartphone is simple and gives you virtual control of your parking from wherever you are,” she said.

“It will also save you money because you are only paying for the time you are actually parked.

“Gone are the days where you load up a parking meter for an hour and are only in the shops for 20 minutes.”

Ararat Rural City adopted the EasyPark system for its meters in 2014.

Ararat Rural City is also investigating running induction sessions with the EasyPark technicians to teach community members how to use the app.

“With new meters comes a renewed focus on compliance, so please be aware in the community that there is an expectation that payment is made,” Cr McLean said.